Bucket and hoop therefor.



CLARENCE SIDNEY REAMS, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

BUCKET AND HOOP THEREFOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 672,808, dated April23, 1901.

Application led December 13, 1900. Serial No. 39,695. (No model.)

T all whom it may con/cern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE SIDNEY REAMS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Richmond, in the county of Henrico and State ofVirginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bucketsand Hoops Therefor; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to improvements in buckets and other similararticles which are zis made with staves and provided with solid wirehoops.

The invention consists of the combination, with a bucket or othersimilar article, of a solid wire hoop provided with aninternallyarranged continuous swaged groove and having biting edges oneither side of the groove, the hoop being applied to the bucket from thesmaller end thereof and forced onto the larger portion thereof, and thewood or other material constituting the bucket being pressed into theinternal groove and the edges or corners of the hoop engaging thematerial of the bucket.

It also consists in means for holding the staves of a bucket in place,comprising a solid wire hoop provided with an internally-arrangedcontinuous swaged'groove and having biting edges on either side of thegroove.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a bucketconstructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlargedvertical section through a portion of the bucket and one of the hoops.Fig. 3 is a similar view showing a slightly-modied construction of hoopand before said hoop is finally forced onto the bucket. Fig. 4 is asimilar view to Fig. 3, but showing the hoop in its final position onthe bucket.

1 in the drawings represents a bucket which is constructed, preferably,of staves in the usual manner, except that in many buckets now on themarket the staves are provided on their outer surfaces with depressionsor grooves into which the hoops are seated. With my invention I do notemploy such grooves, and it is to overcome the objections in suchbuckets that my invention is particularly designed. Inbucketsemployingseating-grooves for the hoops the hoops cannot be as firmlysecured on such buckets as is desired or required, and after the bucketshave been iu use for some time and the wood is allowed to shrink thehoops come out of the grooves and fall off the small end of the bucket.The reason of this is that in forcing the hoop over the shoulder or edgeof the lower side of the groove the hoop is stretched and it never comesback to its original size, and the depression and groove, or rather thebottom thereof,being of less diameter than the largest portion of thebucket over which the hoop was forced does not hold the hoop perfectlytight and rigid. Furthermore, in this style of bucket water and otherforeign substances are permitted to collect between the hoop and thebucket and rot out the staves at these points. As stated above, myinvention is designed to overcome these defects. There being noseating-grooves in the bucket for the hoop there is nothing to stretchthe hoop in its application to said bucket, and the hoop can be appliedto the bucket with considerable force at the point where it is tofinally remain, and the wood of the bucket being softer than the metalhoop will be forced into the internal groove thereof and the edges ofthe hoop will be caused to bite into the wood,

as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

Any number of hoops 2 may be employed,

and said hoops are constructed of solid heavy wire, which is formedsemicircular in vertical cross-section and provided with an internalgroove 3 and with sharp cutting or biting edges 4 5 6 7. The materialfor a hoop is cnt into proper length and the end electrically welded, soas to form a continuous or seamless hoop before being applied to thebucket or other similar article. The bucket proper is made in the usualmanner, and after the staves have been properly set up and planed off,and while the bucket in this condition is still in the lathe, it iscaused to revolve, and while revolving the hoops are applied to thebucket from the smaller end thereof and forced onto the same withconsiderable pressure. This action causes the wood of the bucket to beforced outward into the internal recess or concavity and also causes thebiting edges or corners 4, 5, 6, and 7 to impinge against and bite intothe surface IOO of the Wood, as 'clearly shown in Fig. 2. By thisconstruction and arrangement it is practically impossible for the hoopto become loose and drop off the bucket. Another important feature ofthis construction is that by reason of the tapering shape of the bucketthe cor- 11er or edge 4 of the hoop is embedded a considerable distancein the wood of the bucket,

and thus does not form an opening for the entrance'of Water or anyforeign substance.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a slightly-modified construction in that thecorners or edges 8 and 9 of the hoop are made slightly sharpened, so asto facilitate their entrance into the wood of the bucket. Fig. 4; showssuch a construction of hoop embedded into the wood of the bucket, andFig. 3 shows the same before it has been finally applied. Theapplication of the construction of hoop shown in Figs. 3 and 4t may befacilitated by running a tool around the bucket, which tool is providedwith rollers which will straddle the hoop and force its edges 8 and 9into the bucket.

The advantage of employing a solid heavy wire for the hoop as contrastedwith a sheetmetal hoop is that the said hoop can be forced onto thebucket and caused to bite into the same without changing its shape andwithout requiring to be held on by auxiliary fastening means.

Myinvention also diers materially from a thin sheet-metal hoop which isbent to give the same a semicircular shape in vertical cross-section,for the reason that by employinga solid heavy wire hoop provided with acontinuously-extending internally-arranged swaged groove provision issecured for the reception of the material of the bucket, which is forcedoutwardly, and at the same time biting edges are secured on either sideof the groove, which impinge upon and enter the the hoop thereto.

material of the bucket in the act of applying arrangement no matter howmuch pressure is brought to bear upon the solid hoop its shape is notchanged nor its biting edges destroyed or turned inward; but, on thecontrary, the more firmly will the material of the bucket be gripped anda portion of the material forced into the groove in the hoop. As statedabove, with my construction no auxiliary means are required for securingthe hoop to the bucket, and in the act of applying the hoop to thebucket it is not stretched and allowed to seat itself in a previously-With my construction and formed groove in the bucket, the bottom ofwhich is of less diameter than the highest point over which the hoop isstretched, as in the case of such previously-grooved buckets.

I have shown in the drawings a bucket constructed in accordance with myinvention; but it is obvious that the invention may extend to suchdevices as churns, the tubs of washing machines, washtubs, ice creamfreezers, measures, and any other cylindrical Wooden structure of thischaracter.

Having now described the invention, what is claimed, and desired to besecured by Letters Patent, is

1. A bucket or other similar article provided with a solid wire hoopprovided with an internally arranged continuously extending swagedgroove and having biting edges on either side of the groove, thematerial of the bucket projecting into the groove of the hoop, and theedges of the hoop impinging against and extendinginto the material ofthe bucket, substantially as described.

2. Abucket or other similar article provided with a solid wire hoopprovided with an internally arranged continuously extending swagedgroove and having biting edges, the material of the bucket projectinginto the groove of the hoop and the biting edges of the hoop extending aconsiderable distance into the material of the bucket, so 'that water orother foreign substances will be prevented from collecting and rottingthe bucket at this point.

3. A bucket or other similar article provided with a solid wire hoopprovided with an internally arranged continuously extending swagedgroove and having upper and lower beveled biting edges, the material ofthe bucket projecting into the groove of the hoop and the biting edgesimpinging against or extending into the material of the bucket.

4. Means for holding the staves of a bucket in place, comprising as anew article of manu! facture a solid wire hoop provided with aninternally-arranged continuously-extending swaged groove and havingbiting edges on either side of the groove, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of twoWitnesses.

CLARENCE SIDNEY REAMS.

Witnesses:

OsoEoLA H. MARKHAM, JAMES P. JONES.

IOO

